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CNN This Morning

Israel at War; Interview with ABC News and CBS News Former Anchor and Veteran Foreign Affairs Correspondent Reena Ninan; Interview with Mo News Podcast Host Mosheh Oinounou; CNN Speaks to Parents of Son Missing After Hamas Attack; Interview with Son Hersh Goldberg-Polin Missing Since Saturday and Son was Kidnapped by Hamas After Attending Music Festival Rachel Goldberg; Interview with Son Hersh Goldberg-Polin Missing Since Saturday and Son was Kidnapped by Hamas After Attending Music Festival Jon Polin; Iran's Supreme Leader Says Tehran Not Involved in Hamas Attack on Israel; Interview with Tim Burchett, House Republicans Cautioning Against Tying Additional Aid to Israel with Additional Aid to Ukraine; House GOP Still Speakerless; Israel Orders "Complete Siege" of Gaza After Attacks; Interview with National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 10, 2023 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[07:30:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Right. It's striking when Nic on the ground was talking about how it's a dynamic and fluid situation on the ground. Geopolitically it is also a very dynamic and fluid situation. Reena, Mosheh, Christiane, we appreciate it. Thank you.

POPPLY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli officials say up to 150 hostages, by the way, that includes children and the elderly are being held inside of Gaza right now. We're going to be joined next by parents who say their 23-year-old son was kidnapped on Saturday. They have not heard from him since.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Israeli officials say now up to 150 hostages, and that includes children and the elder elderly, are being held inside of Gaza as we speak. We are about to speak with two parents who say their 23- year-old son Hersh Goldberg-Polin is one of them, and they're desperately trying to find him. Hersh was attending that music festival on Saturday when Hamas militants attacked and started taking hostages after the initial attack.

[07:35:00]

The family says that Hersh went into a bomb shelter and Hamas militants started throwing grenades inside that shelter and shooting at the civilians that were taking cover. Hersh's parents received two WhatsApp messages from their son Saturday morning at just about 8:00 in the morning. The first one said I love you. Shortly after that he also wrote to them, I'm sorry. The police told them that around 12:45 that afternoon, Hersh's phone signal was on the Gaza border. They have not heard from him since. Joining us now are Hersh's parents, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin. Thank you both for being with us. The anguish --

RACHEL GOLDBERG, SON HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN MISSING SINCE SATURDAY AND SON WAS KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS AFTER ATTENDING MUSIC FESTIVAL: Thank you for having us.

HARLOW: -- of parents missing their child is something no one can wrap their head around. You have not heard from him, Rachel, right, since those text messages?

GOLDBERG: Right, and they were both in the same minute. At 8:11 it said I love you, and at 8:11 it said I'm sorry. And I knew immediately that something horrible was happening. And then it was -- trying to find where is he, because I called immediately. Normally, we -- I don't use my phone on the Jewish sabbath, but because the bomb sirens were going off in Jerusalem, my daughters and I ran into our bomb shelter in our apartment. My husband was at synagogue already.

And when we got out of the bomb shelter, I said I'm turning on my phone. I have a child who is somewhere and I want to make sure he's safe. So, that was why I turned on the phone and I had those two texts waiting. And I immediately tried to call him and it just rang and rang. And I sent him a text saying, are you OK? And there was no reply. And 10 minutes later I said, let me know you're OK. And he didn't reply. And 10 minutes later I said, I'm leaving my phone on, tell me you're OK. But we have never heard from him again from -- after 8:11 from those texts.

HARLOW: Rachel, you kissed him on Saturday morning, as every mom does, right, as their child is leaving the house --

GOLDBERG: We did not --

HARLOW: And --

GOLDBERG: No, I kissed him Friday night.

HARLOW: Friday night.

GOLDBERG: That's when I last saw him.

HARLOW: As he was heading out as every parent would. And you've also said, he is the perfect son for me. As you and everyone there continued to search for him, can you tell us about him? I know he loved these festivals. He was going to a place that brought him so much joy.

GOLDBERG: Hersh had a few passions -- has a few passions. One is travel and knowing all about geography, and the other is music and going to music festivals, and hiking. And so, he was doing something that was a very fun outing for him. He just turned 23 years old on October 3rd. And it was just supposed to be a fun outing with a lot of young people, and it turned into a complete disaster.

HARLOW: Jon, I think something that really speaks to the character of your son, as we understand it, while he was in the bomb shelter, he was also protecting a young woman, someone that you have -- had a chance to speak with. Is that right?

JON POLIN, SON HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN MISSING SINCE SATURDAY AND SON WAS KIDNAPPED BY HAMAS AFTER ATTENDING MUSIC FESTIVAL: That's right. So, there's been chaos in the country. We've filed reports with the police, but they're understandably overwhelmed. And so, from midday on Saturday, when we knew there was a problem, we put out a message to a few friends and have been surrounded 24 hours a day since then by a group of eight to 10, 12, 15 friends depending on the time of day and we've sprang into action as a group.

And through our own research, using social media and so on, have gotten some firsthand witness testimony from others who were in the bomb shelter with our son. And what we learned from them is from about 7:30 in the morning when they got in there, very quickly thereafter, they came under heavy fire, gunfire, and grenades. Hersh and his good friend who he was with on there and others were trying to pick up each grenade and throw it back out of the bomb shelter and protect people who were particularly shocked.

GOLDBERG: What we understand, by the way, Aner (ph), his best friend who he was with was standing in the doorway. Hersh was in the center on the side. And that everyone we've spoken to has said that Aner (ph), his best friend, was a complete hero. And taking these grenades and throwing them back out and fighting, actually physically fighting with terrorists who had AK-machine guns that they were shooting at them.

[07:40:00]

And we heard from this young woman yesterday that Hersh was sitting next to her, and she was hysterical, understandably. And that he kept putting her head down, he put his arm over her head and telling her, you're OK. You're going to be OK. We're going to be OK. And comforting her. So, that was really interesting to hear and great to hear.

HARLOW: Jon, your family made the decision, I believe when Hersh was about eight years old, your family made Alia (ph) and moved from Richmond, Virginia to Jerusalem, is that right?

POLIN: That is correct, yes. We -- Rachel and I are both from Chicago. Hersh was born in California, where we were living at the time. And then, as you said, we lived in Virginia for four years and moved here in the summer of 2008.

HARLOW: We will be speaking to the White House a little bit later this hour, and I wonder if you have any questions for them, a message for them, as well in terms of American involvement here. We understand that it is believed there are American hostages as well.

GOLDBERG: Well, I truly feel that the American government, that President Biden and the State Department are working tirelessly any angle that they can to ensure that these American civilians who are being held hostage are freed, taken care of. Unfortunately, what we found out about Hersh from these eyewitnesses is that after this gunfire situation, sometime around 8:00 or a bit after 8:00, Hersh's arm was blown off from his elbow down.

So, we know that he has been critically wounded. He tourniqueted it with a shirt, his own arm, but the terrorists came in after the gunfire settled and they said, anyone who can stand up, walk out. And we heard from this young woman who was next to him, she pretended she was dead. He was, I'm sure, shellshocked and, you know, not really understanding what was happened.

POLIN: Physically wounded with a severe injury.

GOLDBERG: She said, he stood up. He didn't lose consciousness. He was very calm. He was not screaming, and he walked out with his tourniqueted arm. And so, what I'm hoping is that the powers that be, wherever they are, the American government or anywhere around the world, can see to it that this civilian, American, who is critically wounded is tended to. As are, I'm sure, many of the other hostages, American and non-American hostages.

So, that -- our hope and our message to the powers that be is that we really believe in you. I feel that it's very sincere. Everyone that we have spoken to, I feel the distress in their voice and they sound like us. And hope that all we can do is hope that they have someone with whom they can negotiate.

ENTEN: Well, we are showing everyone pictures of your wonderful son, Hersh. Thank you very much. We're all hoping, praying right alongside you for his safe return very soon, Rachel and Jon.

GOLDBERG: Thank you.

HARLOW: Thank you very much.

POLIN: Thank you.

HARLOW: Of course.

MATTINGLY: Well, this morning, with aid to Israel and for Ukraine hanging in the balance, House Republicans are gearing up for a showdown over who the next speaker will be. Congressman Tim Burchett is one of the members who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy. He joins us next.

And also, this morning, Iran's supreme leader denying all involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel. Reaction from the White House. We'll have that for you. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:45:00]

MATTINGLY: Well, later today, President Biden is set to deliver remarks to the American people on the evolving situation in Israel and Gaza. His administration and Congressional Democrats have been weighing the idea of tying additional aid to Israel with additional aid to Ukraine. Many House Republicans, they're cautioning against that. The crucial moment comes as the House still speakerless. And although Kevin McCarthy was ousted from the speakership because of the last second short-term spending bill he shepherded through to avoid a government shutdown, now McCarthy isn't exactly ruling out the possibility of a return.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, (R-CA): Whoever the conference picks, I'm going to support.

RYAN NOBLES, NBC NEWS CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: But if the conference chooses you -- if they're -- there's been a number of moderate Republicans who have come out and said that they think you should attempt to reclaim the speakership. If that were to happen, would you accept the position?

MCCARTHY: Look, 96 percent of their -- let the conference decide that.

NOBLES: You could, right now, officially say that you're no longer interested in the job as you did last week.

MCCARTHY: Look, the conference -- if you want to talk about that, that's not why I'm here. We're watching a war take before our eyes --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Joining us now is Republican Congressman from Tennessee, Tim Burchett. He's one of the eight Republicans who voted to remove Kevin McCarthy from the speakership.

Congressman, I appreciate your time as always. To start with what we just heard, it does feel like there has been a shift from the former speaker who announced last week he was taking himself out of the running. Now not really closing the door to it. Do you think there's a possibility he could return to the job?

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN), OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE: No, I do not. From what I understand there's -- he possibly has five votes in the conference. So, I don't really see that as the thing. I would think that if he was truly interested in what's best for the conference and the country that he would call those five and remove his name, but that yet remains to be seen.

MATTINGLY: And to that point, if he has five votes, though, nobody is going to be able to get to the 217 needed to become the next speaker of the House. How do you figure out a pathway?

BURCHETT: Well, like I said, if he's serious in what his comments were, that he will call those five and tell them to get out. There's 30 or so for Scalise and 40 or so for Jim Jordan, from whey understand. So, it's -- it will be handled in-house, though. I totally expect us to have a speaker by Wednesday. We will come out of conference united in that, and I believe that will be the case. We won't go to the floor with -- and have 15 votes. I don't believe we'll go through that misery again. MATTINGLY: Why are you confident in that? Because coming out of the conference meeting last night, it didn't seem like others shared your confidence that there would be coalescing by Wednesday.

[07:50:00]

BURCHETT: Because I know this conference. I think that the others will see the persons that are not in the majority will say, in fact, it -- let's do what's best for the conference. I know the people that are running. Steve Scalise and Jim Jordan are both honorable people. They're both fiscal conservatives. They understand our needs at the border. They understand the amount of money that we've been sending to Ukraine, and I think they will convey that message to the conference. And I believe they will both unite around the person who has the most votes if they do not see a path forward.

MATTINGLY: And who do you think that person is going to be?

BURCHETT: I don't know. I don't know. I guess we will see Wednesday.

MATTINGLY: Is your vote --

BURCHETT: I'd like to hear their speeches today.

MATTINGLY: Will your vote be determined by who looks like of those two has the best chance or do you have a specific --

BURCHETT: No, I'm going to vote for the person I think is going to do the best for the conference. I think we've -- trying to get to 218 is not really governing, in my opinion. That just kind of going with the crowd. We need to have a set agenda and we need to follow it. I think that's part of the problem in the past. We -- we've taken $5 trillion a year, yet we spend $7 trillion. And that seems to be leadership in the past has been comfortable with that and the American public is not public -- is not -- I doubt the people at CNN could run their company that way either.

So, I think we are going to see a change in direction and somebody with some clear vision that will emerge from this -- from the two that are actually running.

MATTINGLY: Do you believe that what's transpired in Israel over the past weekend has accelerated the effort to get a speaker actually set?

BURCHETT: Well, we said we are going to do it by Wednesday. I -- it was my vote to stay in all weekend and work on it, but that remains to be seen. I think that -- I don't know what Congress is going to do. Israel already gets about $3.4 billion, that's basically on auto check. They get it regularly from the United States government. That's already in place. The president of the United States has already sent our largest carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, which is the -- maybe the largest one in the world.

So, I don't know that -- what else Congress is going to do. Maybe issue a strong -- a stern warning or something like that. But -- and there might be additional aid that we could vote for. But the president has freed up extra funds there as well.

MATTINGLY: So, no regrets given what happened in Israel over the weekend that you are currently speakerless, that you voted to oust Kevin McCarthy?

BURCHETT: Well, if it was such an urgency, why isn't the Senate already preparing something? You know, the Senate -- you know, this full outrage at the House -- I mean, good gosh, the dysfunction over their rivals anything I have seen in my life. Yet, why aren't they already preparing something for us so that when we get back in session that we could vote for it.

So, you know, what -- you tell me what Congress can do that's not already being done and then we will talk about it. But until then, I think it's just not accurate.

MATTINGLY: All right. Congressman Tim Burchett, can you promise that if you don't have a speaker by Wednesday, we can talk about it on Thursday on the show?

BURCHETT: We sure can. You know, if we are, I will be gravely mistaken. I'll be very upset. But I -- you know, I'm not going to vote -- to leave there after 30 minutes. I think we need to hash it out. We need to close the door and handle it.

MATTINGLY: It could be a long one. We appreciate your time as always, Sir. Tim Burchett, thank you.

BURCHETT: Thank you, brother. Yes, Sir.

HARLOW: Well, Israel on a counterattack pounding Gaza with aerial assault. Hamas warning that civilian hostages will be executed and those killings will be broadcast if Israel targets civilians in Gaza without warning. American citizens are likely among more than 100 hostages that have been taken by Hamas, that is according to President Biden, who in a statement yesterday afternoon, also confirmed, "That at least 11 American citizens are among those who have been killed."

Joining us now to preview President Biden's address today and answer some critical questions, the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, John Kirby.

Thank you very much, Admiral Kirby, for being with us this morning. Let me begin with how --

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: You bet.

HARLOW: -- concerned the United States is about what how believe to be American hostages being held by Hamas now that they have said that they will execute them publicly.

KIRBY: Well, our concerns were high even before we thought there was a likelihood that Americans could be in that population, and we don't know that for sure. But our concerns were high immediately. I mean, you can't take a threat like that lightly. You got to take it seriously because of the barbarity that Hamas has already shown that they are capable of.

So, obviously, we're watching it very, very closely. We have talked to the Israelis about offering them additional intelligence information, as well as hostage recovery expertise. We have a lot of that here in United States, in law enforcement, the military, intelligence community. We've offered that assistance to the Israelis and we'll keep working with them on this.

[07:55:00]

HARLOW: Right. There have been discussions about the FBI, any aid that that organization can be. And you've also said, there is no -- "No intention to put U.S. boots on the ground in Israel." But given that there are believed to be likely American hostages, we just talked to the parents of a 23-year-old named Hersh, an American citizen. The family is also an Israeli citizen. They lived there. They are very hopeful that this administration can help. Can you explain how far the Biden administration is willing to go to bring American hostages home?

KIRBY: Well, again, if there's American hostages, we will work with might and main, Poppy, to get them returned their families as best we can. And we'll always put the safety and security of Americans being held overseas really, really high, right at the top, at the priority list. The president has shown that.

But I don't think it's helpful right now to speculate about what that could look like. We also have to keep in mind that unlike, say, the wrongful -- wrongfully detained Americans in Tehran who were in a prison, we don't know if there is Americans in this population. We don't know where they are. We don't know how they are being held and it's an active war zone. So, that complicates the options before you.

But clearly, we're going to do everything we can to help with this hostage crisis, with or without Americans being in the population. And if there are, certainly we're going to work very, very hard to do what we can to get them home with -- to their families where they belong.

MATTINGLY: Admiral, the assistance has been framed both in hostage recovery and intelligence has been framed as an offer. Has that offer been accepted? Is that now active and underway in terms of U.S. assistance on intelligence, on potential hostage recovery?

KIRBY: Yes, I think -- yes, it has. Though we -- the Israelis were grateful for that offer of assistance and we are having those initial conversations with them right now.

MATTINGLY: Can I ask, in terms of the military action, you know, there is an expectation and I know you are not going to speak for what Israeli military is on this right now. In terms of the scale of what might come next in the response, had there been any warnings issued to the Israelis about collateral damage, about civilian casualties, or about strikes on Iran or Hezbollah and Lebanon?

KIRBY: What we're focused on is making sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself and to take action against Hamas. There is a first tranche of military assistance, it's on its way to Israel as we speak. And I suspect that there'll be additional tranches and military assistance going forward. We will always make sure that they can defend themselves and they can take this kind of action.

Look, we don't want to see any innocent civilians killed anywhere in the world, and that certainly includes in Gaza and in Israel. And sadly, there have been too many innocent civilians that have already been killed in this conflict by Hamas, now almost 1,000 Israeli citizens. But we also know that as a vibrant democracy, Israel shares many of our values and interests, and certainly, one of those values is respect for life, and that we are always better together when we are observing that respect for life and for the laws of war as well.

HARLOW: As you know, "The Washington Post" this morning reporting that this attack planned for more than a year with, "Key support from Iranian allies who provided military training and logistical help", that's "The Washington Post." Given that, has the Biden administration asked Israel directly whether it was the president on the calls with Prime Minister Netanyahu not to strike Iran?

KIRBY: There -- I won't get into the details of the conversations that the president had with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Look, our Israeli counterparts just a day or so ago said the same thing that we're saying. But we haven't seen any direct evidence that Iran participated in these particular attacks.

Now, we do know -- of course, there is a degree of complicity here, Poppy, because they have been supporting Hamas for years. Tools, training, resourcing, certainly rhetorical support in just the last 24 hours. But no specific evidence that they were participating in this, resourcing this, planning these series of attacks.

HARLOW: So, Admiral, just to be clear, you're saying that that explicit ask has not been made of Israel?

KIRBY: No, I'm not saying that. I am not going to get into more detail of the conversation that the president had with the prime minister. And I suspect there will be additional conversations with the prime minister ahead for the president, of course. But, again, neither we nor the Israelis have seen any firm evidence or intelligence that says Iran was directly involved in participating in these attacks.

MATTINGLY: Admiral, can you outline the scale of the diplomatic discussions that are happening right now? In 2021, I think the administration relied heavily on Egypt in terms of being, kind of, a middle person or is somebody, an interlocutor in the situation that was happening then in the Middle East. I know Qatar has offered or played a role in, at least, in early-stage discussion related to some of the hostages. How does that work from the U.S. side? What's the involvement of the U.S. and the administration?

KIRBY: Well, across the administration at defense, at state, certainly here at the national security council and at the White House, we are having a range of conversations with allies and partners in the region and outside of the region.

[08:00:00]